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What Really Makes a Game Atmospheric?

Baron Dupek

Arcane
Joined
Jul 23, 2013
Messages
1,870,765
I might overthink this point but...being a cog in the bigger machine, that does not see you as a "only hope" or "hero" give some boost to the atmosphere, even though the rest of the (earlier mentioned) points are not included (or are vastly underused/wasted).

We played to many "u r only hopw" to care much. Being almost nobody in the game give some fresh air.

Like Stalker. In ShoC there is high score ladder in the PDA. Even when you reach the top - nobody change attitude toward you. You're still nobody.
Then you can meet with people from the ladder, especially same NPC in different location.
 

miles teg

Scholar
Joined
Jan 18, 2015
Messages
130
No one has mentioned bloodlines and deus ex, yet. And yet they are the finest examples of great atmosphere, IMHO. Both have shitty soundtrack (although bloodlines one is probably a bit better) and sound effects are nothing exceptional.

For these two I'd say the writing is the major contribution to the so called atmosphere.
 

Kem0sabe

Arcane
Joined
Mar 7, 2011
Messages
13,076
Location
Azores Islands
For me it has to have a consistent game world, in terms of geography, arquitecture, cultures, all wrapped in engaging graphics and sound design.

I want to feel like I'm truly exploring a game world and not just only a level.

Morrowind is one of my favorite games in that regard.
 

A user named cat

Guest
I find atmosphere is mostly created by audio or even a lack thereof, as mentioned a few times earlier. Silence can be used to a great extent, dating all the way back to the days of playing Zork in a dark room to the sound of a noisy computer.

Medieval Total War oozed atmosphere despite being a flat game board, simply due to the overall map look and ambience of the blowing winds combined with subtle instruments and choirs.


Tomb Raider 1 excelled at using subtle and sometimes abrupt music changes to create the mood for each new area you reached without overdoing it. Never any tiresome themes playing, just enough to suck you in and motivate you to continue. Sadly every sequel since has failed at recreating this.


On the opposite end of the spectrum was the amazing work of Kirill :salute: Each area on the map you explored was brought to life by his unique, perfectly fitting theme tracks continuously playing.


As soon as the above music began playing for instance, without even exploring yet, you just knew you were entering an area of sickness and despair. Mood music at its finest and atmosphere personified. There will never be another like him.
 

Quigs

Magister
Joined
Sep 16, 2003
Messages
1,392
Location
Jersey
Unity in systems, design, and art direction.


Spot on. It's not just properly conveying emotion and feeling, it's the multi-channel projection being on point.

Medieval Total War oozed atmosphere despite being a flat game board, simply due to the overall map look and ambience of the blowing winds combined with subtle instruments and choirs.

Coincidentally, it's the last TW game I enjoyed. Greatly disappointed when they returned to the series and kept the civ-light garbage.
 

Suchy

Arcane
Joined
Nov 16, 2007
Messages
6,031
Location
Potatoland
The first game I think of when the word "atmosphere" is mentioned, is Thief: The Dark Project.
In that game it's mostly from the visuals. That the game didn't have state of the art graphics enhances the atmosphere IMO. It's like how the old Star Wars movies feel much more convincing, with a lived in universe, than the clean, soulless, antiseptic CGI universe of the newer movies.

The writing also contributes, even though it's minimal, or maybe because it's minimal, and leave lots of room to fill in with your own imagination. There are no 20 page tomes on the origins and story of the Hammerites and the other factions, or about The City, or even about Garrett himself.

And of course the cutscenes. Like the writing they are on the minimalistic side, but highly effective in setting the mood.

So, if I should rank the factors:
1. Visuals.
2. Writing.
3. Sound (I never have music on in single character games).

Imo music is extremely important in creating the atmosphere, often even more than visuals. Try to imagine Fallout without music. Or Dreamweb.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uRr450-uLQ#t=14m54
 

ERYFKRAD

Barbarian
Patron
Joined
Sep 25, 2012
Messages
28,242
Strap Yourselves In Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
There will never be another like him.
Indeed. :negative:


Gothic does a good job of atmosphere, but that's the product of ALL the parts, be it the visuals, the areas(sup Old Camp), the music, and the ambient sounds(all those fucking dudes going on and on about some thing, but making it way better than I saw a mudcrab yesterday) and the goddamn mechanics themselves, hammering in the feeling of a difficult place.
 

octavius

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Aug 4, 2007
Messages
19,185
Location
Bjørgvin
Imo music is extremely important in creating the atmosphere, often even more than visuals.

For some games, yes. But for me music breaks the immersion in singler character FPP games.
I guess the more "gamey" and abstract a game gets, or the more it tries to be a movie, the more important the music is.
 
Joined
Nov 6, 2009
Messages
1,494
Try Circuit Edge bros, I can't say if it's a good game per se (I tend to think that yes it is), but it's incredibly atmospheric. It was made by guys from Infocom and others from Westwood and it's like Andhaira's world, a first person adventure game with stats set in a cyberpunk caliphate full of drugs and trannies. For me it is a CRPG, Neuromancer done right (even if I did like Interplay's Neuromancer).
 
Joined
Nov 6, 2009
Messages
1,494
Sentient on the PSX (there was also a PC version but I never got it to work) is also incredibly atmospheric, though it really is a bad game full of broken and tedious design decisions.
It's absolutely impossible to finish it due to the tedium of the gameplay, but it really does well paranoia, on a space station bound to crash in a sun.
 

Eirikur

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Oct 25, 2014
Messages
1,126
PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015
The first thoughts that come to mind:
  • Environments that look realistic and worn, as though they're actually being lived in.
  • Cleverly written gritty dialogue, based on the way people actually speak.
  • Deep consistent history with many nuances, particularly the main characters and factions.
  • Active hubs with characters going about their business, the sounds of laborers and small talk, etc.
  • Stories that make us feel a certain sympathy for the characters and their plights.
  • Events that make sense, not requiring frequent suspension of disbelief.
  • Realistic weather and immersive ambient sound effects.
 

typical user

Arbiter
Joined
Nov 30, 2015
Messages
957
What makes game atmospheric? Game design which unfolds to graphics, audio, story, gameplay and anything that contributes to achieve certain feeling.
 

Jaesun

Fabulous Ex-Moderator
Patron
Joined
May 14, 2004
Messages
37,241
Location
Seattle, WA USA
MCA
but SS2's music only has a couple of "appropriate" music tracks - jungle triphop is NOT something that should be played aboard an infested Von Braun.

:salute:

Completely agree. I would like, one day, to get a group of fellow ambient/dark ambient composers and possibly do a new soundtrack for SS2. That triphop/dance shit was just SO bad...
 
Joined
Apr 5, 2013
Messages
2,430
U games forgot about additional factors:

1. Lack of voice acting:



2. Stalker done good thing with voice over instead of dubbing which gives it an unique '80/'90 vibe.

 

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